Front matter

Transcriber's Notes:

A list of other publications (NOAA Technical Reports) appears on the front cover of the original book, before the title page. This list has been retained, but has been moved (to here) to join the continuation of the list inside the back cover.

Where typographical errors have been corrected in the text, these are listed at the end of the book.

Link to Table of Contents.

NOAA Technical Report NMFS CIRC-396

Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Western North Atlantic A Guide to Their Identification

STEPHEN LEATHERWOOD, DAVID K. CALDWELL, and HOWARD E. WINN

with special assistance by William E. Schevill and Melba C. Caldwell

SEATTLE, WA AUGUST 1976

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Elliot L. Richardson, Secretary / NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION Robert M. White, Administrator / National Marine Fisheries Service Robert W. Schoning, Director

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402

Stock No. 003-020-00119-0 / Catalog No. C 55.13: NMFS CIRC-396

PREFACE

In March 1972, the Naval Undersea Center (NUC), San Diego, Calif. in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Tiburon, Calif. published a photographic field guide—The Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises of the Eastern North Pacific. A Guide to Their Identification in the Water, by S. Leatherwood, W.E. Evans, and D.W. Rice (NUC TP 282). This guide was designed to assist the layman in identifying the cetaceans he encountered in that area and was intended for use in two ongoing whale observer programs, NUC's Whale Watch and NMFS's Platforms of Opportunity. The rationale of these programs was that since oceanographers, commercial and sport fishermen, naval personnel, commercial seamen, pleasure boaters, and coastal aircraft pilots together canvas large areas of the oceans which scientists specializing in whales (cetologists) have time and funds to survey only occasionally, training those persons in species identification and asking them to report their sightings back to central data centers could help scientists more clearly understand distribution, migration, and seasonal variations in abundance of cetacean species. For such a program to work, a usable field guide is a requisite. Because the many publications on the whales, dolphins, and porpoises of this region were either too technical in content or too limited in geographical area or species covered to be of use in field identification, and because conventional scientific or taxonomic groupings of the animals are often not helpful in field identification, the photographic field guide took a different approach. Instead of being placed into their scientific groups, species were grouped together on the basis of similarities in appearance during the brief encounters typical at sea. Photographs of the animals in their natural environment, supplemented by drawings and descriptions or tables distinguishing the most similar species, formed the core of the guide.

Despite deficiencies in the first effort and the inherent difficulties of positively identifying many of the cetacean species at sea, the results obtained from the programs have been encouraging. Many seafarers who had previously looked with disinterest or ignorance on the animals they encountered became good critical observers and found pleasure in the contribution they were making. The potential for the expansion of such observer programs is enormous.

Because of these initial successes and the large number of requests for packets from persons working at sea off the Atlantic coast of North America, this guide was planned. Many of the errors and deficiencies of the Pacific Guide have been corrected, and the discussions of the ranges of many of the species have been expanded with considerations of the major oceanographic factors affecting their distribution and movements. While the present volume, like the Pacific Guide, is intended as an aid to the identification of living animals at sea, new materials have been provided to aid in the identification and reporting of stranded specimens, a major source of data and study material for museums. This new dimension is expected to assist the U.S. National Museum, various regional museums, and other researchers actively collecting cetacean materials for display and study in the implementation of their stranded animal salvage programs. Through a cooperative effort of this kind, the best possible use can be made of all materials that become available.

As a part of continuing research, this guide will be revised whenever possible. Suggestions for its improvement will at all times be welcome.

Funds for the preparation of this guide were provided by a grant to Stephen Leatherwood from the Platforms of Opportunity Program, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Tiburon, Calif., Paul Sund, Coordinator.

CONTENTS

Introduction1

Classification of cetaceans1

Dolphin or porpoise5

Organization of the guide5

How to use the guide7

To identify animals at sea7

To identify stranded animals7

To record and report information7

Directory to species accounts:

Large whales:

With a dorsal fin10

Without dorsal fin13

Medium-sized whales:

With a dorsal fin14

Without dorsal fin15

Small whales, dolphins, and porpoises with a dorsal fin16

Species accounts:

Large whales with a dorsal fin:

Blue whale19

Fin whale26

Sei whale32

Bryde's whale37

Humpback whale40

Large whales without dorsal fin:

Bowhead whale49

Right whale52

Sperm whale57

Medium-sized whales with a dorsal fin:

Minke whale63

Northern bottlenosed whale67

Goosebeaked whale70

Other beaked whales74

True's beaked whale77

Antillean beaked whale78

Dense-beaked whale80

North Sea beaked whale82

Killer whale84

False killer whale88

Atlantic pilot whale91

Short-finned pilot whale94

Grampus96

Medium-sized whales without dorsal fin:

Beluga99

Narwhal102

Small whales, dolphins, and porpoises with a dorsal fin:

Atlantic spotted dolphin104

Bridled dolphin108

Spinner dolphin110

Striped dolphin113

Saddleback dolphin116

Fraser's dolphin120

Atlantic white-sided dolphin123

White-beaked dolphin126

Atlantic bottlenosed dolphin128

Guiana dolphin132

Rough-toothed dolphin135

Pygmy killer whale138

Many-toothed blackfish142

Pygmy sperm whale144

Dwarf sperm whale148

Harbor porpoise150

Acknowledgments152

Selected bibliography152

Appendix A, Tags on whales, dolphins, and porpoises154

Appendix B, Recording and reporting observations of cetaceans at sea160

Appendix C, Stranded whales, dolphins, and porpoises; with a key to the identification of stranded cetaceans of the western North Atlantic163

Appendix D, Recording and reporting data on stranded cetaceans169

Appendix E, List of institutions to contact regarding stranded cetaceans171

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) does not approve, recommend or endorse any proprietary product or proprietary material mentioned in this publication. No reference shall be made to NMFS, or to this publication furnished by NMFS, in any advertising or sales promotion which would indicate or imply that NMFS approves, recommends or endorses any proprietary product or proprietary material mentioned herein, or which has as its purpose an intent to cause directly or indirectly the advertised product to be used or purchased because of this NMFS publication.

Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Western North Atlantic A Guide to Their Identification

STEPHEN LEATHERWOOD,[1] DAVID K. CALDWELL,[2] and HOWARD E. WINN[3]

with special assistance by William E. Schevill[4] and Melba C. Caldwell[2]

ABSTRACT

This field guide is designed to permit observers to identify the cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) they see in the western North Atlantic, including the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the coastal waters of the United States and Canada. The animals described are grouped not by scientific relationships but by similarities in appearance in the field. Photographs of the animals in their natural environment are the main aids to identification.

A dichotomized key is provided to aid in identification of stranded cetaceans and appendices describe how and to whom to report data on live and dead cetaceans.